Half to chas



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN JOSEPII CHRISTIE, OF HENDERSON, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO CHAS. M. \VILLIAMS, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC BUGGY-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,817, dated JuIy 9, 1889.

Application filed April 23, 1889. Serial No. 308,254. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN JOSEPH CHRIS- TIE, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Henderson, in the county of Chester and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Buggy-Brakes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to' the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in buggy-brakes; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of 'devices, that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a brake which is extremely cheap, simple, and compact, which may be readily applied to any buggy or other light vehicle, and which is automatic in operation, and therefore requires no attention on the part of the driver.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end view of a buggy-brake embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 00 w of Fig. 1. a

Between the ears of the shackles or clips A, which are bolted on the front axle B, are pivoted levers O by means of bolts D. The lower ends of the levers are provided with a series of adj Listing-openings E, and the upper ends of the levers are bifurcated to form ears F.

G represents the brake bands or straps, which are made of thin sheet-steel or other suitable metal, and may also be made of leather. The central portions 11 of the brakebands are widened and adapted to bear against the inner portions of the hubs of the front wheels, and said portions II have inwardly-extending flanges I, bent at right angles thereto and adapted to bear against the extreme inner ends of the said wheelhubs. The said brake-bands are curved rearhave their rear ends pivoted between the ears F at the upper ends of the levers C.

It will be understood that when the vehicle is being drawn along a level road or up a grade the thills will incline the levers forward, and thereby move the lower ends of the levers rearward, and thus loosen the brake-bands on the front-wheel hubs and prevent the same from offering friction.

When the vehicle goes down a grade, its tendency is to travel faster than the horse, and hence the levers C are inclined rearward, their lower ends are thrust forward, and the brake bands are tightly drawn around the hubs of the front wheels, thereby retarding their rotation and oheckin g the momentum of the vehicle automatically.

The brake-bands, being provided with the flanges I, which bear against the extreme inner ends of the front-wheel hubs a, also form very serviceable and eflicient sand-bands to prevent foreign substances from entering the axle-boxes and injuring the same and the spindles.

Having thus described my invention, I claim a 1. In an automatic vehicle-brake, the combination of the levers, the thills attached thereto, and the brake-bands passed around the wheel-hubs, having their front upper ends attached to fixed points and their lower ends attached to the levers, substantially as described. i 2. The combination of the levers pivotally attached to the front axle, the thills pivotally connected to the upper ends of the levers, and the brake bands passed around the front-wheel hubs, having their upper ends attached to fixed points and their lower ends attached to the levers, substantially as de- In testilnonywhereof Iaifix mysignature in scribed. 7 presence of two witnesses.

3. In an automatic vehicle-brake, the brakebands adapted to bear on the annular sur- JOHN JOSEPH CHRISTIE.

5 faces of the inner portions of the Wheels, and

provided with the flanges T to bear against Witnesses: the inner ends of the hubs, substantially as M. H. VVOTLINGTON, described. 0. M. WILLIAMs. 

